The Sun reports that the Whitecaps will go after Keane in January with their Tottenham link being CEO Paul Barber who is a former director at the North London club.

The Republic of Ireland captain is on the outer at White Hart Lane with just five appearances this season indicating a fresh environment could be the answer, especially after he had such a successful loan move to Celtic last season, scoring 12 goals in 16 Scottish Premier League matches.

The Whitecaps have already signed USA international defender Jay DeMerit and will be looking for some quality at the other end of the park but his signature will not come cheap and the new club can expect to pay around $3million a season for his services.